Practice Makes Perfect
by ultra94
Summary: Starfire has somehow got it in her head that she's not good at kissing. What does Robin have to say about that? And what do cherry stems have to do with anything? RobStar Oneshot


**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Teen Titans and frankly, if I did, the TV show wouldn't have ended.

 **(Post-Tokyo)**

Practice Makes Perfect

"Duuuuuude! Check it out!" Beast Boy shouted as he and Cyborg walked into the common room, both carrying two rather large wooden crates each.

Cyborg easily let down the boxes next to the kitchen area while Beast Boy had transformed himself into a ram and began to knock his head into the crates, finding it too difficult to move around in his human form.

"Yo, Grass stain! Be careful with that, will ya! You'll break the crates with that hard head of yours!" Cyborg pushed him away and picked up crates himself.

"His head is hard enough to break anything." Raven intoned.

"Please friends, what should we be doing the checking of?" Starfire hovered towards the crates, her curiosity evident on her face.

The Titans had been back in Jump City for 4 days now from their vacation in Tokyo and although the alarms had continued to blare with no regard for their poor jetlagged bodies, the trouble had thankfully been mere minor situations, one of which was a farmer whose crops were being ruined by a mutant Rabbit that had gotten loose from an experimental laboratory, which had since then been put under investigation.

The Rabbit had been dealt with easily, and the farmer had sent them 4 large crates of _something_ to show his gratitude.

Starfire and Beast Boy eagerly watched as Cyborg pried open the first crate to reveal its contents.

"And behind box number 1 is… drum roll please" Cyborg turned to Beast Boy who had then obliged him by tapping on his belly repeatedly. "Cherries!"

"Oh how wonderful!" Starfire clasped her hands together. "Please, what are cherries?"

"Girl, you don't know what Cherries are?" Cyborg's human eye widened and let out a low whistle.

"Haven't we ever taken you to the ice cream parlor and given you a sundae with a Cherry on top?" Beast Boy screeched. "We're horrible friends!"

Robin laughed and put an arm around Starfire's waist as he leaned down and picked a twin Cherry and popped one into his mouth and handed the other to her.

"Cherries are fruits, Star. Here, try one."

Starfire turned the fruit in her hand observing it before hesitantly tasting the fruit.

"Glorious! They taste just like the _G'razoscxis_ berries of the _Yarthinex_ moons!" Starfire grabbed a handful of the cherries and piled them into her mouth.

"Easy there, Star! You're not supposed to eat the stems." Robin chuckled before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

He let go of her for a second to grab a bowl from the counter before filling it to the brim with the fresh cherries.

"Well, I gotta go back and make a dent in all that paperwork. See you later, team, Star." Robin gave a playful salute to his teammates before turning around and heading to his room.

"Paperwork again?" Beast Boy whined. "We've just gotten back from vacation and he's already on paperwork?"

"He's on paperwork _because_ we just got back from vacation, idiot." Raven glared before stalking off to her room.

Their vacation to Tokyo had left the paperwork piling up and Robin, with his new girlfriend in mind, was intent on finishing everything as soon as possible so he could devote all of his free time to Starfire. Unfortunately, this meant that he would have to be AWOL for the next couple of days but it was a worthy sacrifice if time spent with Starfire were to be the prize.

"Well would you look at that! Cherries again in box number 2… and 3… and I'm willing to bet it's Cherries again in box number 4." Cyborg sighed as he went through all the crates.

"Woah dude, that's practically a year's worth of cherries! You wouldn't know how to make a Cherry pie, would ya, Cy?" Beast Boy scratched his head.

Cyborg glanced from the corner of his human eye to Starfire who was shoveling cherries in her mouth.

"With Starfire over here, I hardly doubt it'll take a year." He thumbed in her direction and Beast Boy sweatdropped.

Cyborg took a look at the growing pile of stems left over in the wake of Starfire's Cherry feast.

"Hey BB, I'll bet you 10 dollars you can't tie a cherry stem with your tongue."

"I can too! Bet's on!" Beast Boy stuck a stem in his mouth and furiously began moving his tongue around.

Starfire halted her Cherry marathon to watch Beast Boy for a moment before speaking. "Please friend Cyborg, why is friend Beast Boy trying to tie the stem of Cherry? Robin said the stem of Cherry is not to be consumed."

The minute was up and Beast Boy spat out the untied Cherry stem, grumbling.

"Hah! You owe me 10, BB!" Cyborg guffawed.

"Yeah, well I bet you 20 dollars that you can't do it either!" Beast Boy stuck out his tongue.

"With all my experience with the ladies?! You bet I can tie it. Bet's on!" Cyborg then took another stem from the pile and began.

"Friend Beast Boy! What kind of experience with ladies is required in order to tie the stem of cherries with one's tongue?" Starfire asked Beast Boy, her eyes never leaving Cyborg's moving mouth.

Beast Boy, distracted with making sure Cyborg wouldn't cheat, answered distractedly. "Oh, people say that you're a good kisser if you can manage to tie a cherry stem using only your tongue. So people like using them for practice but— HAH, minute's up Cy! You lose!"

"But I almost had it!" Cyborg wailed.

"Now YOU owe me 10 dollars!" Beast Boy cackled and the discussion faded into the background as Starfire entered into deep thought.

She tapped her chin with her finger as she eyed the pile of cherry stems thoughtfully.

"There are those who excel at lip contact?" She turned to her bickering teammates with a worried expression on her face. "Does this mean that there are those who perform the lip contact badly as well?"

Cyborg off-handedly answered her query, still distracted by his current debate with Beast Boy. "Yeah, usually beginners aren't that good at kissing but practice makes perfect!"

Starfire's eyes widened with horror. She had only engaged in lip contact with Robin a handful of times. She was surely a beginner with the most dreadful skills!

"Oh no! What Robin must think lowly of my skills of kissing! I must practice!" Starfire exclaimed to herself before picking up one whole crate and rushing to her room, unbeknownst to her bickering teammates.

* * *

Robin stretched out his arms in victory. A slow smile spread on his face and he groaned out in happiness. He had finally finished all the pending paperwork and with the quiet week they'd had so far, he didn't have a lot coming in.

He figured he was a lousy boyfriend. They'd only been together for nearly 2 weeks now and the last one was spent in Jump City with him holed up in his room with only his files as company. He'd have to make up with her. He promised himself that he was going to dedicate the next coming days to her, assuming of course nothing more pressing called his attention. After all, they were heroes first.

Which brought him to his current thought: Where was Starfire?

He traced back in his thoughts. The last time he saw her was… A few mornings ago when the Cherries came in.

"I'm a horrible boyfriend." He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He hadn't actually seen her since 3 mornings ago. 3 mornings! And to think that they actually lived in the same tower!

"Though… She'd always come to me to force me to take breaks before." It dawned on him that she hadn't done that since before the last time he saw her. Had he perhaps angered her? Was she giving him a cold shoulder of sorts?

He stood up abruptly leaving his work chair spinning in his wake. It was only a few moments later that he found himself standing before his girlfriend's door.

"Star?" He knocked on her door and was met with only silence.

"Starfire?" He heard some noises from inside her chambers and was about to enter the access code before her door hissed open and she was standing before him.

He took a good look at her. She seemed normal to him… So he began to move his head around her to peek into her room. She seemed to notice his interest in her room and she subtly stood up straighter to block his line of vision.

"Why, hello Robin! Is there a reason as to why you are seeking me?" Starfire beamed brightly with a slight nervous edge to her voice.

"Uhhh… Nothing, Star. Do I need a reason to see my girlfriend?" He mustered up his most charming smile and teased her good naturedly and leaned in for a kiss.

Star covered her mouth with her hand and his eyes widened as lips his landed on her lilac gloves.

"Oh, I must apologize for I must return to my room and continue my… cleaning of spring! Yes, I will see you another time perhaps, yes?" She nodded as she slowly walked back and the door closed between them with a hiss.

Robin was left in the hallway with a stupefied look on his face that soon after turned into dejection before he trudged over to the training room.

Maybe she was mad at him after all…

* * *

After spending a couple of hours releasing steam in the training room and fresh from taking a shower, he had entered the common room for dinner and saw the rest of his teammates, save one.

"Well look who's back from the land of the dead." Raven eyed him as he entered.

"Good timing too, Rob! I've just finished cooking my Baby Back Ribs with special BBQ sauce." Cyborg winked. "The recipe is a _special family recipe_." He continued with wiggling eyebrows.

"Or-or you can have some of this Tofu since I know you totally prefer tofu over ribs any day." Beast Boy held the plate in front of his face.

"Nuh-uh BB. No one cares for any of your Tofu! Especially not if my BBQ Ribs are the alternative!" Cyborg shouted as he and the green boy ventured into another "Meat vs Tofu" debate.

Raven sighed deeply while massaging her temples.

"Where's Starfire?" Robin took a look around.

"We haven't seen your girlfriend for days, now. You're rubbing off on her too much!" Cyborg shouted over the whines of Beast Boy.

"What do you mean? What has she been doing?" Robin asked, concern seeping into his voice.

"I've seen her out here a couple of times. She's usually just in and out. Gets some cherries, throws out pits, then leaves." Raven picked up her book and found a spot on the couch.

Robin frowned. There was something wrong with his girlfriend. And he was going to find out what.

* * *

Robin found himself outside his girlfriend's door again, fist posed to knock, when a sound of frustration came from inside.

Robin hesitated. The sound wasn't one of pain, alarm, or trouble. Spending years fighting crime by her side had attuned him to her sounds. And this was certainly not a sound of trouble. This was her _warrior sound_. Definitely not a good time to disturb her… but he had to find out what was bothering her.

And so Robin swallowed his hesitation and decided to forego the knocking in lieu of accessing the control panel. The door opened with a hiss just as a basket flew towards him. He quickly ducked and it hit the hallway behind him.

"Oh! Robin! You are unharmed, yes?" Starfire hovered near him checking him for any possible injury.

"Woah, Star! What was that for?" He snapped his head back and viewed the overturned basket full of stemless cherries behind him and snapped it back to look at her.

Her eyes were red-rimmed and her face had streaks of dried tears.

"I must apologize Ro—"

"You've been crying. What's wrong, Star? You can tell me." He cut her off and traced his thumbs gently across her cheeks.

She sniffed and turned her eyes away, unwilling to look into his eyes.

"It is nothing. I am merely… frustrated at myself."

"If it's got you crying, then it's not nothing." Robin drew her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her.

She rested her head on his chest, which was quite a difficult feat due to their height difference, but the comfort it provided was well worth the effort.

"Come on, Star. Please tell me what's wrong." He moved his head under her chin to look into those brilliant green eyes of hers.

"Oh Robin…" They drew in closer but just before their lips touched, she drew back, her eyes wide in surprise before she turned away from him and sobbed.

He felt his jaw drop. Since when had they exchanged places? It was only 2 weeks ago when she was the one waiting for his kisses and now… it seemed it was him who was waiting for her to grant him a kiss. Was this some sort of payback?

"Do… Do you not want me to kiss you, Star? We don't have to…" He trailed off. It was harder than he thought to say those words. Sure he could stop the kissing but if he was being honest with himself, now that he had tasted those lips of hers in a true fashion (since their first kiss which was actually more of a transfer of knowledge totally did not count), he couldn't get enough. Though if she was truly uncomfortable with it, he'd find the strength to stop. Indeed, he'd find the strength to do anything she'd ask of him.

Starfire sobbed harder and turned back to him and wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug.

"It is not that at all, Robin!" She wailed. "I am most worried that you do not think much of my skills at the kissing!"

Once Robin had gathered his breath from her hug, her words had sunk in.

"Kissing skills?" His voice was a pitch higher and he was fairly certain his voice cracked somewhere in there.

"Indeed! I have been practicing most fervently. I have been trying to tie knots into the stems of cherry with only my tongue but it seems as if I am unsuccessful! I have tried everything but I am simply no good at it and now we may no longer do the kissing since I am no good at it!" She wailed and her heartbreak was most evident.

Robin felt his jaw drop and his eyes widen for a good moment. He tried very hard to keep it in but could not help the laughs from escaping him.

Starfire watched as her boyfriend bent over laughing (it was really more of guffawing) and patting his knee as he tried to gather his breath – and his wits.

Her eyes began to glow green in anger. "You! You are a _clorbag_ for laughing at my frustrations!" She cried out indignantly.

"I-I'm sorry Star! It's just that… Where in the world did you even get that idea?"

"Friend Cyborg and Beast Boy were doing the betting on who could tie the knots out of the stems of cherry in under a minute. And they said that those who are only beginning to do the kissing are often not skilled at it! And I could not believe that I had exposed you to my horrible skills of kissing when I myself could not knot the stems of cherry with –" She was rudely interrupted by the feeling of Robin's lips on her own.

She unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed contentedly into his lips. Her arms trailed up into his hair while his found their way around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. They broke apart for air before his lips were trailing across her jaw. Her head dipped back allowing him more access to her gorgeously tanned neck when she stiffened and abruptly pushed him back.

His hair was wild from her ministrations and both were breathing heavily.

"We can not commence the kissing yet, please. I am still unable to—"

"Do you really think I care about whether or not you're a good kisser?" Robin asked, his voice deep and hoarse.

"You… do not?" Starfire's eyes widened as she watched her boyfriend warily.

"Star," He chuckled before continuing. "Kissing you is my favorite thing to do in the world. And I really don't care if you're good at it or if you're bad at it. All that matters is that I'm kissing you."

Starfire smiled shyly at him. "Do you truly mean that?"

Robin sat down on her bed and patted the empty space beside him, inviting her to take a seat.

She hesitantly sat next to him and watched as he pulled his gloves off his hands and place it on his other side. He took her hands with his bare ones and traced her fingers with his for a moment before turning her hand around and gently kissing her palm.

"Let me tell you a secret." He said, never taking his eyes off their intertwined hands. "You're the first girl I've ever kissed."

He looked into her eyes and gave her a small smile then looked back at their hands.

"Before I came to Jump City, I used to live in Gotham City and work by the side of Batman. Back then, there was no time for romance or even emotions or anything of the sort. There may have been a girl that I liked… but nothing ever came of it. Then one day, I found myself in Jump City, and then there was you… You know what happens after that." He chuckled.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm a beginner too. And I-I'm probably just as bad at kissing as you! Or well… maybe I was before you started all that practicing on Cherry stems and all. Truth is, I probably can't tie a stem either even if I tried So… erm… " He tugged at the collar of his suit nervously as he cleared his throat.

"Yes, Robin?" She looked at him expectantly.

"I… Uh…" He stood up, sweating bullets and walked over to the pile of Cherry stems that she seemed to have been practicing on.

Starfire watched as he unceremoniously dumped the pile into a nearby trashcan and rushed towards her.

He pulled her up and with great effort said "I just want you to know that you don't need any of those… those stems if you need to practice because you've got me and we can practice together. And then we'll get good together because practice makes perfect and I intend to perfect this skill… with you of course and—"

Starfire giggled and cut off his rambling and pulled his lips to hers much as she had done when she had first come to earth.

"Practice makes perfect, yes?"

"Absolutely, Star. Absolutely." He laughed and drew her in for another kiss and murmured against them "You taste like cherries."

* * *

It wasn't too long after that when both Robin and Starfire found themselves fully capable of tying cherry stems into knots, courtesy of lots and lots and lots of practice.

* * *

 **A/N:** I haven't written a fanfic in around 5-6 years now so I'm sorry if I'm rusty. This idea was just too hard to resist and I just had to write it out. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions.


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